LEARN WHERE YOU LIVE. STUDY WHERE YOU SERVE. Prepare for your ministry alongside peers and professors, wherever you are. Luther Seminary’s unparalleled flexibility allows you to build your seminary experience around your life, not the other way around. Earn your seminary degree in a community of learners, whether you’re at home, on campus, or halfway around the world, and without going into debt. Choose full time or part time, in-person or distance learning—whatever suits your family, work, and commitments. Get started at luthersem.edu/admissions. The seminary’s 150-year history comes to life in a new book. See page 18. A Luther Seminary student explores her calling through art. See page 14. CONTENTS FEATURES LUTHER SEMINARY 2019 annual report 9 Creative spirit: How art as a spiritual practice On the cover: During the 2019–20 academic year, deepens community bonds 14 Luther Seminary is celebrating its sesquicentennial. Luther The Great Depression, World War II, represents a number of different predecessor seminaries, the and the shifting forms of seminary education 18 oldest of which (Augsburg Seminary) traces its founding back 150 years to 1869, as noted Faith+Lead: Connecting faithful on the sesquicentennial seal. leaders in a secular age 22 All photos are by Courtney Perry unless otherwise indicated. IN EVERY ISSUE Letter from the president 4 News and events 5 Faculty and staff notes 24 Alumni news 26 WINTER 2019 3 Luther Seminary educates leaders for Christian communities called and sent by the Holy Spirit to witness to salvation through Jesus Christ and to serve in God’s world. Editor Laura Swanson Lindahl Contributing Writers 150 YEARS OF GRACE Katie Langston ’21 M.Div. Dear Friends, Lara Moll ’21 M.A. Katelynn O’Connell ’22 M.A. This fall marks the 150th year of Luther Seminary’s mission to educate leaders John Weirick for Christian communities. Layout and Design The world has changed significantly during the past century and a half. Elizabeth Kästner We’ve moved from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy to a service Jen Nagorski economy. Cultural trends continue to evolve. Technology has advanced at rates unprecedented in human history. In the church, we’ve seen similar shifts. Church bodies have formed, Luther Seminary, one of the seven dissolved, and merged. Ecumenism has flourished and waned. We are asking seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran new questions: What does it mean to cultivate Christian identity and practice Church in America, is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in in an increasingly secular age? How do we prepare leaders who can connect the United States and Canada and the people enduring the stresses and strains of an overly scheduled, overworked life, North Central Association of Colleges with Jesus, the giver of life? In what ways can we continue to rediscover the Holy and Schools. Spirit’s movement in this time and place? In this edition of Story, see how God is using Luther Seminary students, Story is published two times per year. faculty, staff, and alumni to respond to challenges in our contemporary culture. Get an inside look at the new digital learning hub we’ve launched for rostered Send correspondence concerning Story and lay leaders across the church (see page 22). Plus, look back on the robust to [email protected] or call legacy of Luther Seminary with an excerpt from Professor Mark Granquist’s 651-641-3520. new book, “A History of Luther Seminary: 1869–2019” (see page 18). There is no question that the next century and a half will be just as disruptive Office of Marketing and Communications as the previous century and a half has been. But we trust in the promise of Jesus Luther Seminary Christ to abide with us! Luther Seminary will continue to bear witness to the 2481 Como Avenue gospel by preparing leaders who are ready to discover what God has in store St. Paul, MN 55108 for the church and world—just as we’ve always done. For address or subscription changes, call 651-641-3448. Peace, Robin J. Steinke President 4 STORY NEWS AND EVENTS 20 M.A. ' BRANDON WOLLER PHOTOSBY Beloved Community Institute celebrates second year The Beloved Community Institute’s second gathering occurred May 3–5 and drew 30 creative artists and performers to Luther Seminary from across the U.S. to explore the intersection of faith, justice, and art. This year’s theme was “Healing Justice,” and the event included speakers, workshops, and worship services that centered on voices of color and other marginalized communities. Poets, dancers, rappers, singers, and visual artists worked to create spaces where attendees were encouraged to speak honestly and heal from racial trauma. SHEPHERD NAVI assumes an artist-in-residence role Students apply for artist-in-residence Luther Seminary’s newest artist-in-residence Shepherd Navi ‘21 M.Div. is positions that accompany reinterpreting traditional pieces of religious art for contemporary audiences. renewable scholarships. These scholar-artists Navi’s work “Painting Jesus Brown” was installed in Northwestern Hall in principally work in one of September. Navi painted a 4-foot replica of Bertel Thorwaldsen’s “Christus” the visual arts—painting, statue, once ubiquitous in Midwestern churches, as a meditation on the drawing, photography, racialization of the Body of Christ in 21st-century America. His next art ceramics, and others—but installation is expected in Spring 2020. are not limited to only these media. COURTESY PHOTO WINTER 2019 5 FAITHFUL WORKING PREACHER PRESENTS: INNOVATION The Craft of Preaching SUMMIT Preachers from across the United States LAUNCHES gathered at Working Preacher Presents: The Craft of Preaching to focus on practical Luther Seminary hosted the first sermon skills in a collaborative environment. Faithful Innovation Summit at This year’s October conference, hosted by the University of St. Thomas in Luther Seminary at Gloria Dei Lutheran downtown Minneapolis. Nearly Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, featured 200 faith leaders from across the preaching experts Shauna Hannan, associate United States gathered in July to professor of homiletics at California Lutheran address the challenge of forming University, and Luther Seminary’s Associate Christian identity and practice in Professor of Biblical Preaching Joy Moore and the 21st century. One attendee said Professor of New Testament Matthew Skinner. the summit provided “practical skills Karoline Lewis ’94 M.Div., associate professor and insights for being a church in and Marbury E. Anderson Chair of Biblical our time, connections with other Preaching, served as host of the event, where like-minded key leaders, and an workshops and master classes provided invitation to a community beginning space for attendees to listen and learn. to think and work in these ways.” They also participated in small group If you missed the 2019 gathering, discussions and received feedback to videos of keynote speeches, case hone their preaching abilities. stories from innovative leaders, as well as event handouts are BEN MCDONALD COLTVET MCDONALD BEN Videos of the Craft of Preaching are available for $7 through the available on the seminary’s YouTube summit’s all-access digital pass. Apply the summit’s findings to PHOTOBY channel, youtube.com/lutherseminary. your own ministry context. Access the digital pass at luthersem.edu/ summit. Welcoming Luther Seminary’s NEW STUDENTS SAVE THE DATE Join us at the 2020 Faithful Luther Seminary greeted the incoming Innovation Summit June 24–26 class for Fall 2019. The class consists of in the Twin Cities. See early bird students from around the globe, from prices and register at Minnesota to Myanmar and from North luthersem.edu/summit. Carolina to Namibia. New students BRANDON WOLLER '20 M.A. '20 WOLLER BRANDON participated in a pancake breakfast, yoga, a healthy boundaries workshop, campus PHOTO BY tours, and worship services. 6 STORY NEWS AND EVENTS INAUGURAL MDIVX COHORT BEGINS STUDIES From seven regions, 15 ELCA synods, and a variety of other denominations, Luther Seminary’s first MDivX students began their accelerated Master of Divinity program this summer. In this “holy experiment” to reimagine theological education during a time of widespread changes, these COURTESYPHOTOS pioneering students will complete a full 30-course M.Div. degree in 24 months while also participating in part-time congregational internships. Courses are offered in a variety of formats, including in-person intensive sessions, online classes, and hybrid options. Luther Seminary designed MDivX to attract applicants who are spiritually strong, innovative, and inclusive. Thanks to a generous donor, the program is fully funded, CHAPEL AND providing students with full-tuition scholarships and stipends for living expenses, books, computer software, BOOK READING and immersive travel experiences. This will allow students to graduate from the program without taking on additional ‘Dear Church’ personal debt. Students will also be paid for their In September, Luther Seminary welcomed Lenny internships in accordance with ELCA standards. Duncan, who spoke in morning chapel and read from his book, “Dear Church: A Love Letter from a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the U.S.,” at an evening reception. Duncan explored topics like cultural and demographic shifts, church decline, and renewal through racial equality and justice. Shifting demographics and shrinking congregations make headlines, but Duncan sees something else at work— drawing a direct line between the church’s lack of diversity and the church’s lack of vitality. The problems the ELCA faces are theological, not sociological, he says. But so are the answers. “Dear Church” rejects the current narrative of church decline and calls everyone— leaders and laity alike—to the front lines of the church’s renewal. Duncan is a writer, activist, and preacher serving Jehu’s Table in Brooklyn, New York. New MDivX students attended orientation in June.